Target
by ilovenascar
Summary: When Horatio is targeted for murder, something far more devastating takes place. H/Nat, Cal/Eric, Ryan/OC
1. Chapter 1

Title: Target

Disclaimers: I own Mari & Angelina. All the others are not mine.

The windows were open when he got home and he could smell the salty ocean air, feel the warmth of the sunshine, and knew what her day off had consisted of. The house was immaculate, as it almost always was, and he heard her in the shower. Floods of memories flooded his mind and he started towards the sound when he heard the water stop, smelled the coconut body gel and shampoo she used.

Natalia Boa Vista wrapped a thick fluffy towel around herself as she got out of the tub, not expecting anyone there. She took the time to hang her swimsuit up so it would dry and brush her hair to get it to dry correctly before worrying about clothes. Her mind was on what she would fix for dinner and whether or not they should invite the team, make a party of it, or if she just wanted time alone with him. She'd made some sun tea she wanted to chill before he got home either way. She was lost in thought before she saw a figure standing against the doorway, watching her.

"Horatio, you have GOT to learn to make some noise..." Natalia said, turning around to face him, a hint of a smile despite her scolding.

"I learn more when no one knows I'm here." Horatio Caine said, a hint of a smile around his own eyes.

"Well, in this case, there is nothing else to learn. Stop it, all right? Or you'll give me a heart attack." She kissed his cheek and he breathed in her scent, her closeness.

"I'm glad you're home." She whispered against him.

He thought of the hell of the day he'd been through. "So am I." He held her through the towel, rubbing her back gently.

Sensing the pain, she kissed him, holding him close, and dropped the towel as he carried her to the bed they'd shared for the past two years.

Horatio walked towards the light, coming into a white round room full of flowers. It was the weirdest sensation, smelling the beach, seeing the room filled with not florescent light, but natural sunlight, but seeing walls all around him. Natalia was there, smiling, laughing, happy, dressed in a white sundress that somehow he knew was her wedding dress, although there was no veil in sight. He knew it was a dream because losing her like he had his first wife, like he did Marisol, never crossed his mind. All he was thinking was that he wanted to be with her, that he had to be with her. The next thing he knew there was a red stain on the dress. It started small, like a laser point, but it spread, like a wildfire out of control. He looked down at his hand that was shaking; in it, he held a gun.

Horatio woke with a start, reaching to her side of the bed, finding it empty. He knew in his head that it was just a dream, that she had just left the room, but his heart was still pounding. His biggest fear was something happening to his kids, his team, or Natalia. He dressed quickly and went to check on her, finding her in shorts and a shirt, barefoot in the kitchen.

"Hey, sweetheart." She turned to kiss his cheek. "Did you get some rest?"

"I did." He paused for a moment and finally asked, "Can I help?"

"I've got it." She sensed whatever was going on was something bad, because he wasn't talking about it, and something ongoing, since the nap didn't seem to help him. "It's still kinda early. Do you want to invite the team? Lina?"

"Sure." Maybe the bad feeling would go away if he talked to Eric about it. At least his daughter and adopted granddaughter would distract him for a little while.

"I don't understand..." Eric Delko said, frustrated. "You forgave Jake. Why can't you forgive me?"

"I knew who Jake was. I made a mistake in getting back with him either time, Eric. I thought I knew who you were too. I don't like being lied to. I expect more from you." Calleigh Duquesne felt like she was hitting her head against a brick wall. She loved Eric, wanted him to be part of her life again, not just as a friend but as her other half, but there was a nagging part of her that couldn't let go, couldn't forget. "You spied on the lab. You lied to me. How do I know you won't do it again?"

"Because I love you, Cal. I love Mari. I want to be more than just part-time. I want to wake up with you every morning. I want to read her a story and put her to bed every night."

As Calleigh thought about their daughter, almost a year and a half old, she realized that was what she wanted too: Eric to be a part of their life on a permanent basis, to be a 'real' family. She was still so scared. Before she could respond either way, her cell phone rang. "Horatio..." She listened for a moment. "No, no, we'll be there. Do I need to bring anything?" She smiled, but the reaction didn't spread all over her face as usual. "Sounds like a good idea. We'll be there in about an hour." She hung up. "We have an invitation to eat with Natalia and H tonight."

"Cal..." Eric wanted to reach out and hold her, but he didn't dare, not knowing what her answer would be. "Did he tell her someone's trying to kill him?"

"He didn't say." Calleigh sounded as she looked, tired, the strain of back and forth with him as well as her job and being a first-time mom wearing on her. "We'll talk later, okay? I've gotta go pick up Mari." She left before he could argue.

"Okay..." Eric whispered as she left.

Long legs, slender build, curves in all the perfect places, and the smell of suntanning oil. The feel of smooth satin silk under his touch. Every day Ryan Wolfe waited for Horatio, Calleigh, and then Eric to leave the building before making a beeline to the resident psychiatrist/profiler's office. He could almost see her turn to look at him, smile, and laugh. The way she made him feel was as if he'd been adrift for the rest of his life, grasping at Samantha, Erica, and some of the others he'd dated, but never finding anyone who had roots, who wouldn't let him be dragged along with the current.

Angelina Moretti sat at her desk, poring over her papers. Absentmindedly, her hands stroked through her long tresses, normally dark but hightlighted due to the Miami sun. As if she knew Ryan was there, she looked up. "Are you kidding me?"

"You found out." They very rarely had time alone without the 'family' intervening. He'd hoped that she could avoid distractions, just for that evening.

"Of course I found out." Her deep, rich, chocolate eyes looked troubled.

He walked over to her desk, sitting on the edge, studying her. "If you want to go out...talk about it.." He said gently, stopping her hand and holding it between her own.

"It shouldn't bother me. I mean, it goes with the job, right?" It was obvious that it did bother her though.

"Baby, he's your dad. I'd be worried if you weren't upset." Horatio, Ryan, and Natalia were the only ones who knew that background of why she only had one parent left: that her mother had been a detective in New York, a criminalist, and had been killed in the line. Every threat Horatio or he faced was tinted with that memory, whether or not it was fair.

One of the reasons why she used her mother's maiden name at work, not to get caught up in the day-to-day drama that was her dad. Ryan had even broken up with her when he'd first found out about her paternity. She'd never been quite sure if it had been because he felt she lied to him about it, which she technially hadn't, or if it was because he'd thought it too awkward, dating the boss' daughter.

"Lina?" She looked up into his eyes and saw the worry there, not only for her dad, but for her as well.

"Sorry." She stood, putting her files away, locking them to keep them confidential. "Let's just go home. Catch a movie or something." She slipped her hand back in his and he wrapped his arms around her gently.

"You know you can talk to me, right?" He whispered.

"Thought that was my line," she quipped, smiling for him. He was this sweet, goofy guy, totally not her type at all, but what scared her the most was how perfect he was for her, how deeply they loved each other, despite themselves.

They walked out together, holding hands in the lab, then linking arms, her head on his shoulder, in the parking lot. She paused as her phone rang, the call from Natalia asking about that evening. From the smooth, still tone in her friend's voice, Angelina could tell that Natalia didn't know what it seemed the entire lab did. She agreed to go, if only to talk to her dad, and Ryan didn't argue, although the last thing he wanted to do was to go to a team sponsored event where he would have to pretend they were just friends, share her with the others.


	2. Chapter 2

By six-thirty dinner was ready and guests were beginning to arrive. Natalia and Horatio had grilled peppers, onions, shrimp, and chicken in strips for fajitas. Angelina had made guacamole, salsa, and pico de gallo. Ryan had gotten drinks and chips, anything to keep out of the kitchen, and Eric had stopped by a Cuban bakery he knew for fresh tortillas and a chocolate desert that was everyone's favorite.

It had broken Horatio's heart to see Calleigh and Eric come separately, but he would never say anything to either of them. He had hoped after Mari's birth, parenting would bring them back together. After all they'd both been through, they deserved some sort of happiness and he had seen how happy they were together. He'd wasted enough time running from loving again after Marisol's death; he didn't want to see Calleigh or Eric waste time they would never get back.

"It's Poppa. Can you say hi to Poppa?" Calleigh encouraged her daughter.

Horatio picked up his adopted granddaughter and smiled as she kissed his cheek. "That's my girl. Hi to you too, sweetheart," he whispered. Feeling her cuddle against his chest made even days like the one he was having bearable.

Ryan helped Eric carry the food to the kitchen, carrying Lina's bowls for her as well. She leaned up to kiss her father's cheek; he still had a good three inches on her, even in heels. "Hi, Dad."

Calleigh sensed that Lina wanted to talk to her dad alone and went to put Mari's bag in the spare bedroom, knowing her daughter couldn't possibly be in better hands. "What's wrong, sweetheart?" Horatio asked, studying his daughter, seeing that look on her face that told him she was holding something back.

"Have you told Natalia what happened today?" Her usually calm, cool, and collected demeanor was rattled now that there was only him and her 'niece' in the room.

"I knew there would be a downside to your working in the lab…" Horatio murmured under his breath. In his regular tone he said, "No. Not yet." He didn't even ask who had told her; there could have been a hundred and one culprits, including Frank Tripp, who'd witnessed the threat, a team member, who knew she was his daughter, or just some overheard conversation between two well-meaning lab employees.

"I'll say this very simply, very calmly. She deserves to know. She needs to know. If you don't tell her, I will." She kissed his cheek. "You know I'm right."

"I know. I'll tell her after everyone leaves, okay?" Looking at her then, he had the strangest sensation of seeing her at both Mari's age and her own adult years, almost thirty. "I love you."

"Love you too," she whispered, squeezing his free hand gently before going to help Natalia set up.

*****

They decided to eat at the outdoor dining table on the patio near the pool, overlooking the ocean. Horatio and Natalia sat next to each other, in between Ryan and Lina. On Lina's other side was Calleigh and on Ryan's other side was Eric so that the two 'couples' were seated together, but Ryan and Lina ended up apart. The conversation was lively, full of teasing, and everyone had to smile as Mari sat on her father's lap and Eric cut up his food into tiny pieces so she could eat a little bit of everything. She made a face at the shrimp, peppers, and onions she tried but loved the chicken, dipping hers in the salsa so that a sheer red coat was seen on each piece before she put it in her mouth. She ate a little bit of a tortilla that Calleigh had spread guacamole on and seemed to like it but she inhaled more of the dessert she was 'sharing' with her dad than Eric did.

Horatio, Ryan, and Eric agreed to take care of the dishes so the women could have a night off and Eric took Mari with him, to get her bouncer that hung from the doorway so that she could play while the adults talked. Out of nowhere, there was a loud boom and it felt like the house was being shaken. Mari was screaming at the top of her lungs when Eric made sure she was somewhere safe where she couldn't get hurt and then he ran outside with Horatio and Ryan to check on the girls.


	3. Chapter 3

Horatio paced the hallway in front of the emergency room, a stricken look on his face. Walter was at the house, securing the crime scene, and Tripp was trying to figure out what had happened, who had caused it, but Horatio knew the answer. He'd had a bad feeling when Natalia had wanted to eat outside, but he'd told himself he was overreacting. Not only had Natalia been hurt because of him, but Lina and Calleigh as well.

Eric walked up and down the hall, rocking gently, trying to soothe Mari. She'd stopped screaming but crocodile tears were still streaming down her face. Every so often, she looked at him with her big green eyes and asked, "Mama?"

"Soon, baby. Very soon." Eric whispered to her, kissing her dark hair, rubbing her tiny back. Calleigh and Mari were depending on him. He couldn't break, even if he was terrified of losing Calleigh, just like their little girl.

Ryan returned and both men stopped walking. "Alexx can't treat everybody, so she's checking in on everyone, helping out where she's needed. She'll let us know when she knows anything." He was going crazy himself. Calleigh and Natalia were like his sisters and he couldn't imagine never seeing Lina again.

Finally Alexx came out, facing all of them, rubbing Mari's back gently. "Hey, sweet girl."

"Mama?" Mari asked, looking at Alexx hopefully.

"Your mama wants to see you. Daddy too." Alexx looked at Eric now. "She's still on oxygen and we're trying to get her to rest, but she's pretty adamant about seeing you two."

"Cal? Adamant? Never." Eric said, his smile easing over his face, but staying for the rest, knowing Calleigh would want to know.

"Lina hurt her head when she fell against the concrete. She's got a concussion but if she's half as stubborn as her father, she'll pull through." Alexx aimed at both Horatio and, on a hunch, Ryan. The girl had been delirious, but she'd been calling Ryan's name.

"Natalia?" Horatio's voice was dry, raspy, as if it took too much effort to speak.

"The blast was too loud. She can't hear anything. We don't know if it's temporary or permanent." She remembered talking to her friend a few years before. "This has happened before, hasn't it?"

Horatio nodded slowly. "An explosion in a meth lab combined with past trauma. In just one ear though. She was able to wear a hearing aid until it healed." He remembered that Natalia had been wearing her hearing aid when she'd been drugged, thought that her abusive ex was still alive, and shot at him. It was the only secret he kept from her, knowing she'd never be able to handle it.

"We'll try that. You can see them. Eric, I got special permission for Mari to go back too." She gently kissed the little girl's cheek.

"Thanks, Alexx." The four friends walked back together, Alexx waiting for each to go into a room before going on rounds.

Calleigh's eyes were closed when they walked in so Eric sat and cradled Mari in his arms, talking to her, trying to get her to play with her toy, but succeeding in only getting her to hold her stuffed bear. She took a look at Calleigh and then quickly buried her head in her father's chest. "It's okay, baby. Mama's just sleeping. She'll be better soon. We're gonna take care of her, okay? Make her all better."

Eric could see why Mari was so frightened. Calleigh's eyes were closed, she wasn't moving, she was in a bed that Mari had never seen before, or not when she remembered, and there was tubing in Calleigh's nose to deliver the nitric oxide she desperately needed. Eric was scared himself, but trying not to show it. The last two times Calleigh had been in a fire, she'd lost a little of her lung capacity, done a little more damage. What would she be left with after this?

Natalia was awake, but obviously upset. Frightened wasn't the word for her feelings at the moment, more like earth-shakingly terrified. She calmed a little more when she saw Horatio, seeing that he wasn't hurt, but no one had informed her of anyone's condition and she'd had no way of knowing how her family was. He held her for a few moments, careful of the bruises, cuts, that he knew each of the girls had, grateful it hadn't been worse. They easily could have had broken bones or not survived at all.

Horatio picked up the small dry erase board and marker they'd left there until they could get some hearing aids. He remembered last time, her being able to tell what everyone was saying if they were facing her, but he wanted to make sure she understood the next. **ERIC RYAN MARI OK.**

She nodded, relieved about that much. "Calleigh and Lina?"

This time he hesitated before writing. **CALLEIGH ON OXYGEN. LINA CONCUSSION. STILL ASLEEP.**

"I want to see them…." Natalia told him.

Horatio thought about this for a moment. **I'LL ASK ALEXX.** She nodded and he kissed her head gently and then her lips. "I love you." She smiled for him, resting her head against his before letting him go talk to Alexx.

Ryan remembered the first time he'd seen Angelina, carrying a box way too big, way too heavy, for her but doing a good job of it. The woman was stubborn, obviously a characteristic she'd inherited from her father, but like H, she had a good heart. She was beautiful and not just in the way Samantha had been, beautiful outside but rotten to the core in. He remembered her laugh as she'd dropped some of the boxes she'd been trying to move, instead of getting upset or angry, and the way her eyes lit up when she thanked him for helping her. He had seen her still only one other time, laying on the beach, soaking up the warm sun, her eyes closed, totally at peace. He'd never seen her quiet. It was hard for him to reconcile that part of her to the Lina that was in the bed now. She looked pale underneath her constant tan and she was still and so quiet, too quiet. He could almost see her laugh, tell him her head was too hard for any 'real' damage.

"C'mon, babe. Wake up," Ryan whispered, stroking her hair out of her face. She was so beat up, but then, all three of the girls had been. "C'mon. Don't do this to your dad. Don't do this to us." He thought again and then added, "Don't do it to me. Wake up, baby. I need you." He had waited over thirty years to find her. He couldn't let her go without a fight.


	4. Chapter 4

Horatio found Alexx after she checked on some of her other patients. "Is everyone all right?" She asked, almost as worried as he was.

"As far as I know. Natalia wants to check on the girls."

Alexx nodded, hiding a smile as she thought that Natalia's response was just like Horatio's would have been, not to focus on personal injuries, but check on the family first. "I don't see why not. For a little while. I'll see if I can find her some scrubs instead of that gown first though. I'll send it with a nurse. If Natalia gets tired, make sure she rests." She knew she didn't have to add the last. Horatio was protective of everyone he cared for, especially Natalia after what they'd both been through. "You too." She saw something in his eyes. "Horatio…what is it?"

He shook his head. "Nothing. I should get back. Thanks, Alexx." He offered an attempt at a smile for her before returning to Natalia's room.

Calleigh's eyes opened and Eric smiled for her, still stroking Mari's back gently. "Hey, niña. Look who's awake," he whispered, turning their daughter so she could see.

"Mama." When Mari started trying to climb out of his arms to get to Calleigh, Eric lay her gently down on the bed where she snuggled close into Calleigh's side.

"You guys okay?" Calleigh asked, wishing there was room for both Mari and Eric next to her.

He nodded. "We are now." He'd spent too much of his life without Calleigh; he didn't want to lose her now.

"Others?" She asked, feeling winded already, grateful for the extra help of the tube that ran to her nose.

"H and Ryan aren't hurt. Nat lost her hearing again and Lina has a concussion, but I haven't seen any of them. We've been here with you."

Calleigh nodded, one hand stroking her daughter's back, one hand holding his hand. "Are you sure she's okay?"

"She's really scared, but we all are. You'll go home soon, but you need to rest now, okay, baby?" The endearment slipped with his worry for her. She could see the panic in his eyes and knew he'd tried to hide it not only from her but from their daughter as well.

"Do you mind…Do you mind staying? Please?"

He nodded, unshed tears in his eyes. "Forever and a day, mi amor. Forever and a day." He remembered far too well her crashing last time, almost losing her. He couldn't leave her then, Alexx had had to kick him out, and he knew he couldn't leave her now. When her eyes closed again, this time with a smile on her face, he kissed her forehead. "Te amo, querido. Te amo."

Horatio and Natalia were in the hall, Horatio holding Natalia in his arms, not only to support her, but to reassure himself that she was really there. They had started to go into the room, but stopped, watching the body language between the two. Natalia couldn't hear a word they were saying, but she knew in this case that three was family, five a crowd. "We shouldn't go in there right now, Horatio," she whispered, resting her head on his shoulder, feeling his strength and love supporting her just as she knew Calleigh felt Eric's. "We'll go later."

He nodded, kissing her hair. "Okay, sweetheart," he whispered, knowing that she couldn't hear him, but also knowing that she knew what he was saying, especially with the next words he whispered so no one else could hear. "I love you." He knew firsthand what Eric was going through, how many times he'd almost lost Natalia, only to almost lose her again.

Angelina opened her eyes, moaning as she tried to focus. Her head felt like the worst migraine rolled into a hangover that she ever felt. "Easy, sweetheart. Not too fast. Not too fast," Ryan whispered, making sure she didn't try to jump up and make it worse. "You're in the hospital. You have a concussion."

She focused on Ryan's tired face and stroked his cheek gently. "You okay? Dad?"

"Eric, your dad, and I were inside the house, with Mari. You, Natalia, and Calleigh are the ones who are hurt. You need to rest right now, okay?" His voice was shaky as he reached out and held her hand, trying to smile for her.

She took a moment to register that her 'niece' and the male members of her family were okay before focusing on the rest of that statement. "How bad?"

"Natalia lost her hearing. She's lost it before because of an explosion and they're not sure if it's permanent this time or not. Your dad's with her. Calleigh's lungs are injured again, but Eric and Mari are with her." He felt like he should go check on Horatio and Natalia, since Eric had his hands full, but was afraid of leaving Lina, even for the few moments it would take.

"I want to see them." She knew he had wanted to ease the news as much as he could for her.

"No." It was the first time he'd ever said no to her, about anything. "You'll see them soon, but right now you need to rest." He realized how lucky he'd been that she wasn't in a coma, that she hadn't died. "Do you remember what happened?"

She shook her head. "Just being at Dad's." She paused. "Is someone still trying to kill him?"

Ryan nodded. "I'm not sure." It was possible that the threat to Horatio had been carried out by using the girls, it was possible that they thought Horatio had been injured or killed, or it could be possible that it had nothing to do with the hit on his boss. At that moment, he wasn't sure of anything.

"Hey," Angelina whispered softly, looking towards the door, towards her dad and friend.

"Hey, sweetheart," Horatio said just as softly, watching as the two girls hugged, each careful not to hurt the other. He kissed her long black hair and, after Natalia sat, he sat as well. "How do you feel?"

"I'm okay." Ryan learned something in that moment; she covered and lied almost as well as her father in these situations.

Ryan reached across and squeezed Natalia's hand very lightly with a reassuring smile. He turned to Horatio then. "I'll leave you guys alone. I'm going to go check on Eric and Cal, then make some phone calls if you need me."

Natalia had a hint that they were intruding yet again, but she said nothing, not wanting to load more on Horatio, make the situation more complicated than it needed to be. Horatio, if he noticed, said nothing but "Thank you, Mr. Wolfe."

Ryan walked away and leaned against the wall, closing his eyes. Alexx touched his hand. "I was about to go home and wanted to check on everyone. You okay, baby?"

Ryan opened his eyes. "Can we talk?"

"Of course." Alexx was tired from her shift, but there was never a time she was too tired for her family and she still counted the team as her family.

They walked down the hall together and he filled her in on what little he knew. "Someone's trying to kill Horatio."

Although that was an everyday occurrence when she'd worked in the lab, it still worried Alexx. "You think they hurt the girls because of it?" She knew about Marisol, how her death had broken Horatio, changed him forever. If someone wanted to hurt Horatio, hurting any of the girls, much less all of them, would be the obvious choice, much more devastating than doing anything physically to him.

"Or the girls are collateral damage and they think they got H too." Ryan shook his head. "We had just taken the dishes inside. Eric had just taken Mari to get her swing. We would have been out there with them." He paused. "We should have been out there with them."

"Baby, you listen to me." She said in her best 'mom' tone, getting Ryan's immediate attention. "There is a reason why you survived. There is a reason why you weren't out there. Maybe it's how they planned it; maybe it was because God knew that someone would need to take care of those girls. But blaming yourself is not going to help." She paused. "We should talk to Eric; see if he has any ideas about securing the girls until they can leave the hospital." She paused again. "For the time being, we can put security outside the door and move the girls closer together. Nothing else is going to happen to them. We're going to keep Horatio safe too."


	5. Chapter 5

Horatio held his daughter's hand, thinking to himself that Angelina looked every inch of her namesake, a sleeping angel, like she had when she was a little girl. Natalia was still gone getting her hearing aid when Ryan came back, clearing his throat. "H."

Horatio gave Ryan his attention, not sure he was going to like what he would soon hear. "We're putting protection on the girls and moving them all into one room. You're getting protection too."

"No." He gave one of his classic one-word answers.

Ryan barely kept from groaning. "H, someone tried to kill you. We don't know if they're going to be satisfied hurting the girls or if they're coming back for them, coming back for you. Until we do, you need protection."

Before Horatio could say no again, Natalia made her presence known. "Ryan, can you sit with Lina for us for a little while?"

Ryan looked at his friend, shaky, pale, almost as if she were going to fall down rather than sit down. Even if he'd wanted, he couldn't argue. "Sure."

Horatio and Natalia found a quiet, semi-private place where she could sit and they could talk. He automatically held her hand as soon as they stopped walking. "Is what he said true?"

He made it a habit never to lie to anyone, especially not her. "Yes."

"And you planned on telling me this when?" She hesitated. "You did plan on telling me this, right?"

"When everyone went home." He knew he should have told her when he went home that afternoon and so did she.

"You promised me, when I moved in…no more secrets." They had started living together after she almost drowned in a car trunk and he was shot, almost bled out internally, because he hadn't said anything about feeling bad to anyone.

"I know. I'm sorry." The look on his face, his tone, and the way he caressed her hand said that he meant every word he said.

"How you felt when you lost Marisol is how I would feel losing you, Horatio. Don't you get that by now, sweetheart?" She looked into his eyes, finally seeing it in a way he hadn't before. "And that's not counting what our family would go through, Lina, Kyle…I don't interfere with how you react at work, but I'm asking you, please…" She was shaking again and couldn't continue.

He wrapped his arms around her again, holding her close, resting his cheek on top of her head. "You need to rest." He paused. "I'll take the protection." He would do anything to stop her pain.

Calleigh woke up to find Alexx in the room, talking softly to Eric and holding Mari, rubbing small soft circles on the girl's back. "Welcome back," Alexx whispered softly with a smile. "How do you feel?"

"Tired. Sore," Calleigh spoke, her voice barely above a whisper. She looked from one to the other. "What's happening? What's going on?"

Eric looked at Alexx and then at Calleigh, sitting on the bed facing her, holding her hand. "For right now, we're putting all three of you in a hospital room together. Horatio and I will be with you; there'll be guards right outside the door."

"Because of what happened at the house?" He nodded. "You think we're still not safe."

"Baby, I don't know. And we don't want to take any chances." Eric said softly, gazing down at her.

"Maybe you should call your mom…Let Mari stay with her until this is over." Sending her daughter away was the last thing Calleigh wanted, but she knew Eric's mom well enough to know that no one would hurt Mari on her watch.

"I can handle it, sweetheart. I won't let her be hurt. I won't let you be hurt any more than you already have. Let me try. Please." He realized the consequences if he failed to protect them, but he also knew that if she didn't trust him now to protect them, she never really would.

Calleigh slowly, finally, nodded. "When do I get moved?"

"Right now, if you're ready," Alexx said, shifting Mari so that she could unhook Calleigh from most of the machines, taking the necessary ones with them as Eric lifted Calleigh gently and put her in a wheelchair, knowing whatever she might say, she was nowhere strong enough to walk by herself.


	6. Chapter 6

Horatio looked around at the three beds, three of his favorite females hurt because of him. He knew no one was saying the words, but it didn't make them any less true. Calleigh was breathing on her own now, the oxygen standing by in case she needed it, her little girl curled beside her. There wasn't room for chairs, so Calleigh was laying on her side so that Eric could lay beside her, Mari in the middle. He could hear them talking softly, Calleigh's lilting Southern whisper against Eric's deeper, stronger tone, not enough to hear what they were saying, but it was very obvious that whatever had gone wrong between the two of them had been fixed, at least for the moment.

He himself was perched on the side of the bed, Natalia curled next to him, her head on his chest. She technically could go home since there wasn't anything that the doctors could do for her at the moment, but she'd wanted to stay with their family and it was safer for them both to do so. His hand absent-mindedly stroked her hair and her back to try to comfort both of them. He couldn't shake that feeling, the one he'd inherited at Marisol's death, the one that resurfaced every time Natalia was in danger.

"Are you okay?" Natalia whispered to him.

"I will be." He answered honestly, kissing her dark hair. "It'll be better when everyone's healed enough to leave." He felt so helpless, to protect himself or the family he loved, but he'd made her a promise, one which he had no intention of breaking. "What about you?"

She could have lied and said she was fine, but she knew he would know it was a lie. "Still scared." She had no doubt in Eric and Ryan's ability to keep them safe, but there was a part of her that was shaken and she couldn't seem to get warm enough or close enough to Horatio. "A little headache." That was an exaggeration; it was a full-force knock-down, drag out headache.

"You should rest, sweetheart. The other girls are and there's nothing you can do right now." It was almost morning and, while Calleigh and Angelina seemed to be sleeping most of the night, Natalia hadn't slept at all. "I love you. I'll be right here. You're safe." He whispered to her, listening as her breathing evened out and she grew quiet.

Ryan paced the hallway, unable to hide his worry. Eric kissed Calleigh's sleeping head and slipped out to check on his friend. "The girls are gonna be all right."

"Tripp was supposed to go talk to the guy that threatened Horatio. What's taking him so long?" Eric didn't have an answer for him, but wished he did. "How are Calleigh and Mari doing?"

"I'm still worried about Cal's lungs. They just seem to get worse every time." Ryan nodded. Most of the CSIs seemed to have triggers that got worse with each incident: Calleigh's lungs, his eyes, Natalia's hearing, and Eric's headaches. Only Horatio had seemed immune to actually being injured, until his shooting.

"Do you think we can move her soon?"

Eric took a deep breath and slowly let it out. "I don't know. It's possible, but I don't want to play games with her. I'm not doing anything that could cost me either of my girls. And I wouldn't think that you'd want to move Lina either."

Ryan shook his head, still pacing. "I don't. I don't. I just…I have a bad feeling this isn't over. Any nurse, any doctor besides Alexx, that comes in…"

Eric nodded. "I know." He too couldn't help but wonder if any strange face was going to try to hurt his family, his friends.

"Have you thought about calling your mom? Letting Mari stay with her?" Ryan took a step he usually didn't, getting involved in Eric and Calleigh's family.

"Cal and I thought about it…I don't know. Everyone at the lab knows who she is, that Horatio's her adopted grandfather. If the girls were targeted, Mari's so little…"

Ryan smiled for him. "You're a good dad." He started to say something else when he heard screaming coming from the emergency room.

"Go. It's okay. Go." Eric said, worried what could have happened.

Horatio heard the screams as well and went to join Eric in the hallway. "Did Wolfe go check?" Eric nodded, torn between his instinct of trying to help and his instinct of protecting his family. "Go help him. The girls are asleep and we'll be all right until the cops get here."

Eric would never know why he nodded and obeyed his boss except for the fact that he always did. Horatio watched him run in the same direction Ryan had gone before going back into the room with the girls.


	7. Chapter 7

Both boys saw the nurses and security rushing in and out of the hospital room. Pulses quickened at the same time; breathing got a lot harder. Eric took off running towards the room and Ryan wasn't far behind. There was blood on the floor, some on the sheets, some on the wall, where it had spattered, where whoever had been bleeding had fallen. Eric could almost feel Calleigh gasp for breath, even with the help from the oxygen. Mari was showing off her lungs in grand style, not sure what was going on, but knowing that everyone around her was scared. Without thinking, Ryan moved to where Lina was rocking back and forth on the bed, holding her before he realized there was blood on her gown.

Eric didn't bother asking if they were all right; nothing about the entire situation was all right. "What happened?"

Throughout the cancer with Marisol, Calleigh's near misses, and his own health issues, Eric had learned some of the nurses by name. Debbie, one of his favorites, spoke up, seeing that the girls couldn't at the moment. "The ladies witnessed Lieutenant Caine being shot. Dr. Moretti and Ms. Boa Vista went to him when he fell. That's how Dr. Moretti got blood on her gown." The ultimate goal for the time being was to calm Angelina down before worrying about changing her gown. "Ms. Boa Vista went with him." Natalia had refused to let him leave her sight, as if she were afraid he would die if she couldn't see him. "Calleigh became upset and her breathing worsened again. We've already called Dr. Woods and Detective Tripp." Alexx had a standing request that if any of the CSIs were brought in, that she be called as soon as possible, although she had just left for bed two hours before.

"I'm all right," Calleigh finally whispered when she was able to take off the oxygen mask. She tried to get up but her body had been through enough trauma in the last twelve hours that it just wasn't possible.

Her appearance, how weak and pale she looked, frightened Eric. "You're staying here right now, Cal." He whispered.

"I need to go check on Horatio. Natalia." She remembered far too well how she'd felt when Eric was shot, each time more helpless, more frightened, than the last.

"H's in surgery right now," Eric told her softly, holding her close. "And Natalia will be all right. We'll check on her when you feel better. When you feel up to it. Right now's not it." It scared him even more when she didn't argue.

Calleigh couldn't picture the world without Horatio, just as she couldn't picture the world without any of her family. She knew one day it would happen, but as a child, Calleigh had longed for a voice of reason, of experience, of a real parent. Horatio had always been that for her, through mistakes in her professional and personal life, through parenting her own father, then the craziness that had surrounded her pregnancy and Mari's birth. She wasn't ready to let go yet.

Eric looked at Ryan and realized that his friend couldn't leave Lina any more than he could leave Calleigh. Ryan rocked Angelina in his arms, whispering to her, trying to calm her down. She had finally started crying and he was grateful, as it seemed to mean she was coming out of her state of shock.

"Do we need to call Kyle?" She whispered to him, asking about her half-brother.

"Let's wait until we know something." He whispered, hoping he was making the right decision. It could take over sixteen hours of just flight time for Kyle to come home, that wasn't counting the hoops they would have to jump through with the Army. He also knew that there was nothing Kyle could do from there, nothing any of them could do. That was what was hurting Lina so badly; there was nothing anyone could do to fix this.

Lina thought about being twelve years old, the night her world had changed. She'd always been proud of her mom being a CSI, her dad being a homicide detective. They helped people, protected them from the 'nightmares in the closet' as her mom used to phrase it. The only time her parents weren't there to protect, sometimes overprotect, her, was when her dad had gone undercover. She never thought it possible that she could lose one of them. Yet she remembered that night far too well. Her dad had been the one to tell her of her mom's shooting; it was the only time she remembered him crying. When her beloved grandma, her dad's mom, had died a few months later, she remembered thinking that her dad was all she had left in the world. That feeling intensified a year later when her dad had been stabbed and they'd moved all the way from Brooklyn to Miami, what felt like a completely different world. They had their fights, like most father/daughter relationships, but she remembered that feeling: he was the only family she had left.


	8. Chapter 8

Natalia sat with her arms around herself, unable to keep the chill out of her bones. Horatio was twelve years older than she was. They both worked in the same job; she knew the dangers, had seen them first hand. She knew there was a possibility that she could spend the rest of her life with Horatio and had chosen to live her life hoping for that outcome. She also knew that she could lose him, without notice, any minute of any day. They shared a common fear, losing the other, both knowing what it felt like to lose someone they loved: Marisol and Jesse. She thought of Horatio, shot, diving into the ocean to rescue her from a car trunk. She remembered the feeling of holding his hand and then losing his touch. She remembered him pushing through the pain, keeping going although neither of them ever should have left the hospital, to find North, the one who shot him, tried to drown her, and then Toller. She remembered the fear in Eric's voice when he told her that Horatio had collapsed, that they had to go to the hospital right then, that moment. She remembered the rush of fear that came over her as she sat by Horatio's bed for hours, ignoring her headaches and fatigue, eating only when one of the team reminded her, never leaving that room until she saw his blue eyes open, saw his smile.

She stood, unable to sit still any longer, walking towards the panes of glass, seeing Horatio in surgery below. It dawned on her that the room was set up very much like the morgue. How often had she found Horatio on the ledge above, watching an autopsy?

"I refuse." Natalia whispered. "I refuse to accept the possibility of losing you. We're not through yet. We have too much left to do." They had discussed adoption, but she'd put it off without really having a reason why. They'd discussed vacations, neither actually remembering taking one before, or at least not in recent years. They'd discussed marriage, but hers had ended as a nightmare and the guilt he still felt over Marisol's death had him running scared as well. "We're not through yet. I refuse."

*****

Ryan helped Angelina move to a wheelchair, shooting dirty looks at Alexx whenever he could get her to look at him. He had made his feelings obvious to both of the women, but neither was listening. Lina had suffered a bad concussion, but there was no keeping her from Natalia and her dad. He could either support her, help her, or wait helplessly until she came back; she was going either way. He wrapped a blanket around her carefully so that she would be comfortable but keeping it out of the way so that the chair wouldn't roll over it. Then he pushed her to where Alexx had told him the surgery was being held. Natalia was standing by the window, crying, and they both knew she wouldn't want anyone to see. Ryan found a chair and sat beside Lina, holding her hand.

"My mom was a CSI," Lina whispered. "Dad was a homicide detective. They met through work. She was the one that got him interested in crime scenes…" She trailed off, realizing it wasn't important, while Ryan just learned something that changed the way he viewed Horatio, especially after her next words. "She was killed at a crime scene. She was the first person to arrive and walked into a trap. I don't…I don't know much about what exactly happened. Dad would never talk about it, never let anyone else talk about it either. He always said he didn't want me to think of her that way. And I don't…until things like this happen." She took a breath and let it out. "We lived with Grandma for a little while, after Mom died. She used to watch me when Dad got called out in the middle of the night. Grandma and Grandpa John were back and forth, off and on. He was very abusive. Sometimes she could be strong enough to kick him out, but she always let him come back. The last time she kicked him out was when we moved in. When she wouldn't let him come back, he killed her." Ryan held her, kissing her head, not sure who he felt sorrier for, her or Horatio. "That's when Uncle Ray moved down here, married Yelena, and had Ray Jr. Dad stayed in New York until he was shot." She had gotten calls in the middle of the night about her dad more times than she wanted to think about wanted to remember. He always survived them, always. "When we moved to Florida, I hated it. I couldn't wait to get away to school. I never thought I'd be back here now, but…Dad and Kyle are all I've got. Dad's always been there, even when I was difficult, even when I wasn't sure I liked myself." He looked at her on that. "I was wild when I went to college. Maybe I wasn't arrested like Kyle, but I should have been, several times. I drank, dabbled in drugs, slept around…" She looked at him. "You wouldn't have liked me very much then. I can't believe I was that person now. But Dad was there. Somehow he always knew what I had done and loved me anyway. I don't…I don't know what I'll do without him. I really don't want to find out."

Ryan was speechless at first. He didn't know what to do, what to say, all he could do was hold her, try to silently reassure her that it was all right, that he still loved her, that her dad would pull through.

*****

Eric dozed in a chair near Calleigh's bed, Mari in his lap. Calleigh didn't believe for a moment that she was incapable of going to see Natalia and Horatio; after all, Lina had gone and she'd had a concussion. Calleigh was having no problem with her breathing when she lay in bed so she got up, careful to make as little noise as possible, telling herself that it was to keep Mari asleep, but she really knew that he wouldn't approve of what she was doing. After all, Alexx had told her that she had to stay in bed, but surely a quick trip to check on her friends wouldn't hurt anything. She was a little woozy, unsteady on her feet, but she took a few more steps. She found her chest hurting, feeling like the room was spinning, and the next thing she knew, the room went completely black.

Eric heard Calleigh when she hit the floor. He put Mari down on the bed quickly, running to Calleigh's side, calling down the hallway for a nurse. Tears streamed down his cheeks as he held her, picking her up, moving her back to the bed, trying to stop the bleeding where she'd pulled the tubes out.

Alexxx had gone to check on her patients, but ran back when she'd heard the code for Calleigh's room. She'd had a feeling that Calleigh would try to get up, but she hadn't expected anything like this or she never would have left. She saw the tears in Eric's eyes, the tears he wasn't even trying to hide. The only thing she could think to do was hold Mari so that the little girl wouldn't be in the way and wouldn't wake up frightened again.

Nitrous oxide was slipped over Calleigh's face again as Alexx finally convinced Eric that he could sit beside Calleigh on the bed without holding her, just until the doctor and nurses finished their jobs. "I shouldn't have fallen asleep. I shouldn't have fallen asleep…"

*****

Horatio found himself in the white round room again, only this time the dream was different. It was Calleigh with the wedding dress, in the middle of the room with him, searching for something, although he had the feeling he was supposed to be the one to walk with her. There were two doors on either 'side' of the room: Marisol stood in the doorway of one, Natalia and Eric in the other, and no one was talking. There was a pull, like an ocean wave, towards Marisol's door, but at the same time he felt pushed towards Natalia and Eric. He could choose to let go, stop fighting, and go to them, or swim against the current and go with Marisol. It wasn't just him though; his decision somehow affected Calleigh as well. Wherever he went, she would go too.


End file.
